Parkinson’s Foundation Gives $250K for Parkinson’s UK Treatment Project – Parkinson’s News Today

As part of a new partnership with Parkinsons UK, the Parkinsons Foundation has granted the nonprofit $250,000 toward a prospective new treatmentlinked to mitochondrial function that is being developed in the Parkinsons Virtual Biotech program.

The grant will help advance a project aimed at uncovering new methods of potentially impeding brain cell death through stabilization of the source of energy necessary for cell survival the mitochondria. Itsthe first international funding for the Parkinsons UK-led program and marks the beginning of a collaborative effort to move forward promisingParkinsons (PD) treatment research.

We are pleased to partner with Parkinsons UK to further innovative research that will help the international PD community, John Lehr, president and CEO of the Parkinsons Foundation, said in a press release. This collaboration will help us better serve people living with Parkinsons today while furthering the promise of a cure tomorrow.

Parkinsons UK and its supporters and collaborators each year invest more than $5 million in Parkinsons Virtual Biotech the organizations drug discovery and development arm focusing on projects with the potential to transform patients lives. Fueled by project-specific partnerships with some of the worlds top research organizations, the programs goal is to invest $29 million by the end of 2021.

We are delighted to receive this investment from the Parkinsons Foundation to support a growing portfolio of projects in our Virtual Biotech, said Steve Ford, chief executive of Parkinsons UK. While we have made huge strides in our research efforts, we have long recognized that we cant do it alone. The Parkinsons Foundation shares this philosophy that were better together, and their investment marks a new chapter that will help ensure the Parkinsons community receives the new treatments it needs.

With its grant, the Parkinsons Foundation is focusingon a 98,000 (about $126,000) year-long project with the University of Sheffield that began in August called Novel Mitochondrial Rescue Compounds.

Through compound modification, scientists will seek to discover and develop a potential therapy that could protect the dopamine-producing brain cells affected by Parkinsons. The hope is that the most promising study compound ultimately will result in prospective brain cell-protecting treatments that could slow PD progression and enhance patients lives.

Parkinsons is caused by the death or malfunction of dopaminergic neurons, which regulate muscle movement and coordination. To do their job, these nerve cells require large amounts of mitochondra-provided energy. Studies have widely suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the development of PD.

To date, the Parkinsons Virtual Biotech program has invested in seven drug discovery and development projects.

In addition to this collaboration, the two PD organizations also are working together on Parkinsons Revolution, an indoor cycling fundraiser slated for Feb. 8 across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The event is designed to highlight the benefits of exercise in PD while also raising funds for research and programs.

Since 1957, the Parkinsons Foundation has invested more than $353 million in PD research and clinical care. Parkinsons UK is Europes largest charitable funder of Parkinsons research.

Mary M. Chapman began her professional career at United Press International, running both print and broadcast desks. She then became a Michigan correspondent for what is now Bloomberg BNA, where she mainly covered the automotive industry plus legal, tax and regulatory issues. A member of the Automotive Press Association and one of a relatively small number of women on the car beat, Chapman has discussed the automotive industry multiple times of National Public Radio, and in 2014 was selected as an honorary judge at the prestigious Cobble Beach Concours dElegance. She has written for numerous national outlets including Time, People, Al-Jazeera America, Fortune, Daily Beast, MSN.com, Newsweek, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. The winner of the Society of Professional Journalists award for outstanding reporting, Chapman has had dozens of articles in The New York Times, including two on the coveted front page. She has completed a manuscript about centenarian car enthusiast Margaret Dunning, titled Belle of the Concours.

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Ana holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Lisbon and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM) in Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated with a BSc in Genetics from the University of Newcastle and received a Masters in Biomolecular Archaeology from the University of Manchester, England. After leaving the lab to pursue a career in Science Communication, she served as the Director of Science Communication at iMM.

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Parkinson's Foundation Gives $250K for Parkinson's UK Treatment Project - Parkinson's News Today